Did you know that the largest operator of comedy clubs in the world is a cruise liner?
On each of Carnival Cruises‘ 25 ships, they feature the Punchliner Comedy Club, which offers up to 20 performances on an average 7-10 day voyage. This comes to about 25,000 comedy shows a year across the fleet. That’s a lot of laughs – and given just how many laughs they deliver each year, on International Joke Day (July 1st) they invited a group of media on board the Carnival Spirit while it was docked at Circular Quay in Sydney to get a taste of the comedy the “biggest purveyor of laughs” offers for free on board each night.
The Comedy Club features both family friendly early-evening shows, and late-night adult only laughs. It’s fair to say that while we were there at lunchtime, they ensured it was adults only fare – and with drinks served to your table, and a vibe reminiscent of the comedy clubs of New York City (albeit quite a bit bigger), it was an entertaining and indeed hilarious experience.
Four comedians joined us for the performance. Chris Wainhouse, who’s been named The Comedian of the Year and winner of the Triple J Raw Comedy Competition, Daniel Townes, a regular on our screens, featuring on shows like Good News Week and The Comedy Channel’s Stand Up Australia, morning television regular and radio broadcaster Simon Kennedy and George Kapiniaris, a comedian who most Australians have come to know over his vast 30 year career. These funnymen would continue on with the cruise, entertaining guests nightly, and if that’s a cross section of what the cruise offers, it seems the Punchliner Comedy Club is a must to include on your itinerary. I half expected to be entertained by Pablo, the chef from the on board Cantina. Which probably would have been great too, don’t get me wrong. But the point is they haven’t half-arsed this. I do wonder if they have an open mic night for Pablo though?
The Carnival Spirit enjoyed a massive revamp last year, which you can read more about on our old site HERE, which included the introduction of a new Burger Bar (Guy’s Burger Joint) and indeed a Mexican Cantina (Bluelguana Cantina), which you enjoy while sitting by one of their luxurious pools.
For more information and bookings head to http://www.carnival.com.au/
Photos supplied. Headline photo features the four comedians from this cruise.
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